These are divided into the categories J-Pop, World, TV (anime/tokusatsu), Classic, and Game (includes a variety of medleys from Nintendo titles such as Mario, Fire Emblem, and Zelda).

In addition, the drum set sometimes requires the player to hit two notes at once, and the touch screen portions must be played manually; at this point the game receives a drastic increase in difficulty, and essentially turns the Nintendo DS into a musical instrument.

In Free Play Mode the player scrolls through the songs using up and down on the D-Pad, and selects a part from the list using the touch screen.

In Amateur and Pro modes (which are judged separately and toggled via a switch on the title screen), the player's score is recorded and appears next to the instrument of the song.

Band Brothers utilizes the Nintendo DS' Wireless Link connection to allow multiple players to join in and make music.

Another feature is a full blown music editor allowing the player to create their own custom tunes, using the touch screen to select the notes.

This mode is used by many people to recreate tunes from video games or other MIDIs using a program to convert them into sheet music.

There is also a mode in which players can sing or hum a tune into the Nintendo DS microphone, which will be recognized by the game and converted into notes on the screen.

Any musical piece the player compose can be transmitted wirelessly to a friend's cart(s) so they can play the song.

Band Brothers was released in Japan for the Nintendo DS in 2004 as a launch title; the game was also announced for a North American release, and as late as September 2006, it was listed as "in development", but is no longer found on Nintendo of America's website.

It features 31 new songs, which were chosen based on a survey posted on Nintendo's website in July.

Jam with the Band also allowed the player to download new songs to the 8 megabyte capacity game cartridge via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Band Brothers P was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in November 2013, developed by Intelligent Systems.